Plymouth Theater, First Floor Interior
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Landmarks Preservation Commission December 15, 1987; Designation List 198 LP-1369 PLYMOUTH THEATER, first floor interior consisting of the auditorium, the stage, the staircases leading from the first floor to the balcony floor; the balcony floor interior consisting of the balcony, the upper part of the auditorium and ceiling; and the fixtures and interior components of these spaces, inc 1 uding but not 1 imi ted to, wall and ce i 1 ing surfaces, doors, stair railings and attached decorative elements; 234-240 West 45th Street, Manhattan. Built 1917-18; architect, Herbert J. Krapp. Landmark Site: Borough of Manhattan Tax Map Block 1016, Lot 51. On June 14 and 15, 1982, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on the proposed designation as a Landmark of the Plymouth Theater, first floor interior consisting of the lobby, the auditorium, the stage, the staircases leading from the first floor to the balcony floor and all connecting entrance areas; the balcony floor interior consisting of the balcony, the upper part of the auditorium and ceiling, the upper part of the stage house; and the fixtures and interior components of these spaces, including but not limited to, wall, ceiling, and floor surfaces, doors, stair railings and attached decorative elements; and the proposed designation of the related Landmark Site (Item No. 65). The hearing was continued to October 19, 1982. Both hearings had been duly advertised in accordance with the provisions of law. Eighty-one witnesses spoke or had statements read into the record in favor of designation. Two witnesses spoke in opposition to designation. The owner was among those speaking in opposition to designation. The Commission has received many letters and other expressions of support in favor of this designation. DESCRIPTION AND ANALYSIS The Plymouth Theater interior survives today as one of the historic theater interiors that symbolize American theater for both New York and the nation. Bui 1 t in 1917-18, the Plymouth was one of a pair with the Broadhurst and among the numerous theaters constructed by the Shubert Organization, to the designs of Herbert J. Krapp, that typified the development of the Times Square/Broadway theater district. From its opening, the theater was leased and successfully managed by producer Arthur Hopkins. By all accounts, Arthur M. Hopkins was among the most unusual producers on the Broadway stage. A pioneer in the production on Broadway of Ibsen plays, he was the producer of~~~~ fgEisti~. Eugene O'Neill's first financial success, and the friend and producer of the Barrymores (he was responsible for John Barrymore's most celebrated appearance in !!~!!!!~!)· Known as "the Sphinx of Forty-fifth Street," Hopkins was identified with the Plymouth, and vice-versa, from the theater's opening in 1917 until his death in 1950. 1 Founded by the three brothers Sam S., Lee and J.J. Shubert, the Shubert organization was the dominant shaper of New York's theater district. Beginning as producers, the brothers expanded into the building of theaters as well, and eventually helped cover the blocks east and west of Broadway in Midtown with playhouses. Herbert J. Krapp, who designed almost all the Shuberts' post-World War I theaters, was the most prolific architect of the Broadway theater district. Having worked in the offices of Herts & Tallant, premier theater designers of the pre-war period, Krapp went on to design theaters for the two major builders of the post-war era, the Shubert and Chanin organizations. The Plymouth and the Broadhurst were his first two independent theater designs. The Plymouth Theater represents a typical and important aspect of the nation's theatrical history. Beyond its historical importance, the Plymouth has a handsome Adamesque style interior design, typical of the many theater designs with which Herbert Krapp adorned the Broadway theater district. For half a century, beginning with the productions of Arthur Hopkins, the Plymouth Theater interior has served as home to countless numbers of the plays through which the Broadway theater has come to personify American theater. As such, it continues to help define the Broadway theater district, the largest and most famous concentration of legitimate stage theaters in the world. The development of the Broadway Theater District The area of midtown Manhattan known today as the Broadway theater district encompasses the largest concentration of legitimate playhouses in the world. The theaters located there, some dating from the turn of the century, are significant for their contributions to the history of the New York stage, for their influence upon American theater as a whole, and in many cases for their architectural design. The development of the area around Times Square as New York's theater district at the end of the 19th century occurred as a result of two related factors: the northward movement of the population of Manhattan Island (abetted by the growth of several forms of mass transportation), and the expansion of New York's role in American theater. The northward movement of Manhattan's residential, commercial, and entertainment districts had been occurring at a steady rate throughout the 19th century. In the early 1800s, businesses, stores, hotels, and places of amusement had clustered together in the vicinity of lower Broadway. As New York's various businesses moved north, they began to isolate themselves in more or less separate areas: the financial institutions remained downtown; the major retail stores situated themselves on Broadway between 14th and 23rd Streets, eventually moving to Herald Square and Fifth Avenue at the turn of the century; the hotels, originally located near the stores and theaters, began to congregate around major transportation centers such as Grand Central Terminal or on the newly fashionable Fifth Avenue; while the mansions of the wealthy spread farther north on Fifth Avenue, as did such objects of their beneficence as the Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1 2 The theater district, which had existed in the midst of stores, hotels, and other businesses along lower Broadway for most of the 19th century, spread northward in stages, stopping for a time at Union Square, then Madison Square, then Herald Square. By the last two decades of the 19th century, far-sighted theater managers had begun to extend the theater district even farther north along Broadway, until they had reached the area that was then known as Long Acre Square and is today called Times Square. A district of farmlands and rural summer homes in the early 1800s, Long Acre Square had by the turn of the century evolved into a hub of mass transportation. A horsecar line had run across 42nd Street as early as the 1860s, and in 1871, with the opening of Grand Central Depot and the cornp 1 etion of the Third and Sixth Avenue Elevated Rai 1 ways, it was comparatively simple for both New Yorkers and out-of-towners to reach Long Acre Square . Transportation continued to play a large part in the development of the area; in 1904 New York's subway system was inaugur ated, with a major station located at 42nd Street and Broadway. The area wa~ then renamed Times Square in honor of the newly erected Times Building. The evolution of the Times Square area as a center of Manhattan's various mass transit systems made it a natural choice for the location of legitimate playhouses, which needed to be easily accessible to their audiences. The theater business that invaded Long Acre Square at the end of the 19th century consisted of far more than a few playhouses, for at that time New York was the starting-point for a vast, nationwide entertainment network known as "the road." This complex theater operation had its beginnings in the 1860s when the traditional method of running a theater, the stock syste m, was challe nged by the gr owing popularity of touring "combination" shows. In contrast to the stock system, in which a theater manager engaged a company of actors for a season and presented them in a variety of plays, the combination system consisted of a company of actors appearing in a single show which toured from city to city, providing its own scenery, costumes, and sometimes musical accompaniment. Helped by the expansion of the nation's r ailroads after the Civil War, the combination system soon killed off the majority of stock compa n ies. 3 By 1904 the r e were some 420 c omb ination companies t ouring t hrough t housa nds of t h e a ters in cities and towns across the country. 4 Of crucial importance to the operation of the combination system was a single location whe re combination shows could be cast, rehearsed, tried out, and then booked for a cross-country t our. Since New York was alrea dy r egarded a s the most importa nt theate r city in America, it is not surprising that it became the h e adquarte rs for the combination system. In addition to the many theaters needed for an initial Broadway production for the combinations before they went on tour, New York's theater district encompassed rehearsal halls, the headquarters of scenery, costume, lighting, and makeup companies, offices of theatrical age nts and producers, t h eatrical p r inters and n ewspape rs, and othe r auxiliary en terprises. Close t o t h e t h e a ter district were boarding house s caterin g t o t he hundred s o f performers who carne to New York in the hope of being hired for a touring show or a Broadway production. 3 As theaters were built farther uptown, the auxiliary enterprises also began to move north.